Working Relationship Ch. 08

If she gets that job with Peter, and we are seen working together, me showing her the ropes, becoming friends, it will give substance to any convenient rumour that Janet and I are now 'very close friends'.

If the gossips connect me and Janet and suspect we are 'an item' outside work, they are not going to accuse me of ... a bit crude, but ...... of 'spreading my legs' for you, as well.

I know this all sounds a bit complicated, but I know the 'jungle telegraph' in that place. It will seize onto something as juicy as an affair in an instant. Between two girls is juicier than with another man, but they would have to be able to prove it, and as I said, other ladies may have similar 'friendships' and so would not want to 'cast the first stone'. Just because we are friends doesn't prove anything, every girl has other girl friends, whether in a physical relationship or not.

Between a P.A and her Boss? That's different ...... 'There's no smoke without fire', is there? Off again in a couple of weeks, for another conference! You know, Ithoughtit was a bit funny that she always booked connecting rooms? How many times has they been away together now? I heard they were sleeping together at the last one, probably that wasn't the first time! Did you see that love bite on her neck when she came back? Of course it's faded now, and she covered it with foundation to hide it. The dirty bastard, he knows she is married, of course it's her husband I feel sorry for! She only got the job as his P.A by spreading her legs! I always knew she was a slut, you can always tell, another one who thinks she can fuck her way to the top! ..............."

"Now do you see what I am getting at.?"

David looked shocked, "Is it really that bad, the gossip I mean?"

"I have heard worse than that," said Sarah, "Once started it's impossible to stop. Every time it is told, something new is added. The new bit, when it's re-told, is now a definite fact, "so and so told me, and she was told by her friend who actually saw them kissing in the car park." So now the rumour is a fact. When it gets to James's secretary's ears, and believe me it will, Christine knowsallthe gossip. She, of course will feel it's her duty to tell James. Now you are summoned to his office and asked to explain what is going on. What are you going to say? More important, how are you going toproveit didn't happen and all this isn't true?"

David looked completely shell shocked. Sarah looked across the restaurant and saw Jennifer looking their way. Sarah signalled to her that David needed a drink. Within seconds a stiff whisky arrived at the table. Jennifer looked concerned, and slipped into the seat beside him.

"Are you all right David," she asked. "I could see there was an intense conversation going on so I stayed away. Can I get you anything else?"

David took a drink of the whisky and, with the colour returning to his cheeks, said, "It's ok, Jennifer, it was just a dose of reality that I wasn't quite prepared for." He saw how Jennifer was looking at Sarah, "It wasn't Sarah's fault, she only told me how this problem could play out unless we tread very carefully. I didn't quite understand it before, but I think I do now.

Jennifer looked at Sarah's left hand, where it lay on the table. Sarah was wearing her wedding ring. "I think I understand the problem, you work together, and now you want to play together, but work doesn't allow it. Was it the office gossips that Sarah was talking about?"

David nodded, taking another, smaller, sip of the whisky.

"I don't know what she has told you, but it is probably worse than whatever she said. Think of the 'worst case scenario' then double it and that's office gossip. Listen to Sarah and whatever she says; go with it, she knows it better than you do, that's my advice." She looked straight at Sarah, "Does your husband know about you and David?"

Sarah gulped, and then, taking the whisky from David, took a drink herself, putting the remaining drink back down in front of him. "There isn't actually a 'Me and David' as yet, but it looks as if there might be, and yes, he does know," said Sarah.

"I thought so," said Jennifer, "The anklet rather gives it away. Right leg - he knows, on top of stocking - no condom required. Rather nice little charm attached, can I see the inscription? Oh nice! 'Married, but...' Husband's idea I suppose Sarah." Sarah just nodded. "It usually is. Turns him on, knowing you are with another man does it?" Another nod! "Your choice of partner I hope?" Sarah nodded again. "Don't let it worry you then sweetheart, I know of four other couples for definite, who are treading this same path. As long asyouget to pick your own 'friend' and everyone is discreet, it can work out fine. In fact, do you see that couple at the table by the emergency exit?" Sarah looked and said "yes." "His wife doesn't know he has a girlfriend, so they can't go there, she has children almost in their teens, so they can't go back to her place either. Her husband books and pays for the hotel room for them. She always takes hubby home a nice cream pie, as a thank you. These things happen more often than you might think. Just one thing, take my advice and don't ever let your hubby pick your date, that way lies disaster. Is tonight your first night out together?" Sarah nodded. "Thought so, you looked quite nervous when you came in. Hubby picked your outfit?" Sarah nodded again. Jennifer squeezed her hand across the table. "I can usually tell. Just a tip, before you go home, take your bra off, if you are feeling really brave, slip your panties off as well. Smudge your lipstick a little, and undo a couple of buttons on your blouse, better still, button a couple of them up in the wrong buttonholes. Put your jacket back on to cover yourself so the neighbours don't see. Even if nothing has happened between you and David tonight, he will think it has. It keeps him happy. Excuse me I think I am needed. Play safely now children." With that Jennifer moved away towards another table she had noticed required her special brand of attention.

David looked at the stunned expression on Sarah's face and he chuckled. "I told you, she misses nothing. But everything is secure, she sees all, hears all, and she says nothing."

Sarah looked puzzled and said "She takes him home a cream pie? What does taking him a cake ha ............? She stopped in mid sentence because David was laughing at her. "It's not a cake." He said, "Oh you are an innocent! A cream pie is when the lover has unprotected sex with the woman and finishes inside her. She goes home to her husband, who licks the 'cream' he left inside her, from between the lips of her pussy, as if it was a cream donut. It's also referred to as 'cleaning up'."

Sarah blushed, "So he is actually licking ......... Oh! Now I do feel stupid. I read about the husband cleaning up after the lover had left, I thought it meant he tidied up, changed the sheets and such like, something like that."

David was serious for a moment. "No you are not stupid, it's just not something you have encountered before. But, back to what we were talking about. What if Janet actually wants to have an affair with you? How will you manage to get out of that?"

Sarah looked at him with a smile on her face. "Now who is being stupid? I might not want to get out of it. If the price of her silence is a kiss and a cuddle, with a lady I rather like anyway, I don't think that's too bad. I have thought several times lately I wouldn't mind having a special friend, and yes, I do mean another woman. Sometimes it would be nice to curl up with someone, have a gossip and just hug each other and see where it takes us. Don't look so shocked, like Jennifer said, these things happen."

"I am going to tell you something, but this is a secret! John and I went into a bar while on holiday on the south coast. It was a few years ago. We didn't know it when we went in, but it seems it was the local gay bar. As soon as John realised, he saw two men kissing, he was frightened to death. He was quite safe, they could see we were a couple so not 'on the scene', but the sight really seemed to scare him. Anyway we drank up and left. A couple of nights later, he was in the hotel bar watching a football match. I told him I fancied a walk, although I knew he wouldn't want to miss the football. I went for my walk, but for some reason I just couldn't get that bar out of my mind, so I hopped in a taxi, and went there. If you go in a place like that alone, someone will usually talk to you to see if you are interested. Less than five minutes I was in there, before a girl put her hand on my shoulder and said "I had a feeling you would come back, I hoped it would be without your husband". We didn't even go outside, it was quite dim in the bar and we started kissing against the back wall. Her hand went up my skirt, her jeans were undone and my hand was inside her panties. I came twice and I think she came once. I told her I had to leave before I was missed, and she said "Yes, you'd best get back, the football will be finished soon", kissed me once more, and said "It was lovely to meet you." And went back to sit at the bar. I never even asked her name and she didn't ask mine. I got a taxi back to the hotel, John was outside, and saw me arrive. I told him I had got tired of walking, so when I spotted a taxi I hailed it and came back. To this day he doesn't know, and don't you dare tell him. It's the only time, apart from this morning, I have been unfaithful to him, and they do say that if it's with another woman it doesn't count."

Sarah finished her glass of wine, saw Jennifer across the restaurant, and held up her glass, Jennifer nodded, and a waitress arrived with another glass of white wine within a minute. "My God David, you are not joking about the service in here, are you."

David grinned, "It's quiet tonight, last night it took a little longer to get a drink."

"Ah, the famous Wednesday night club," said Sarah. "Tell me, the comment Jennifer made about your 'dress', is this where you come when you are dressed as a woman?"

He looked uncomfortable, "Umm ...... well, yes, one of them. It's accepted that Wednesday night here, is for less conventional people. I never asked you, how do you feel about me dressing? Does it bother you?"

"Not at all, in fact I think it's very sexy," she said, "from the pictures I saw, you look very convincing," she leaned forward, "I spent quite some time studying the one of you in the red bra, it was nice, although studying it in the flesh this morning was better."

"You," said David, "Are a tease. You are doing this deliberately because you know I can't touch you in here."

Sarah giggled, "I'm sorry, but honestly, I thought you did look very sexy. But back to what we are supposed to be sorting out. I need to give a plausible reason for me going haywire this morning. I have an idea, but tell me what you think.

What I haven't told anyone at work is that for about seven years, John and I were trying for a baby. Because we were not having any luck, we had tests, lots of tests, and they came back saying that while John is quite capable of fathering a child, I am not able to give him one. Up to last year, we had been through so many tests, you just wouldn't believe, but no one could do anything. It was about 18 months ago when we decided that we were just throwing money away on all these private clinics and more tests, so we stopped doing it. That was why we didn't have the money to buy a decent car, it had all been spent on I.V.F, private hospitals, clinics and tests. We have accepted now that I will never have children. No one at work knows about this, it is personal. I kept it to myself because I don't want to get dragged into 'sympathetic chats' with the other girls, about it."

David wondered where she was going with this, but just listened.

"Now," said Sarah, "If I come in tomorrow, just before lunch, ostensibly to let you know I will be back on Monday. Janet will be there, so if I ask you to call her into your office, I can make it look like I am explaining what happened to both of you because you were both involved this morning, but because it's so personal, I will ask you both to keep it to yourselves. I am not going to go into details, because I want you to genuinely look shocked when I say it, but keep in your mind, while the situation is true, the timescale, when I knew and how I was told will be, frankly, a load of rubbish. The object is, to give Janet a plausible reason for me going haywire, like I did. It will make her feel sorry for me and might even make her feel protective towards me. That will make others who notice us, even more certain there is something going on between Janet and I."

"If I can make this convincing, with the rest of it, we might just be able to get away with working together with no one suspecting we are sleeping together as well. After all, if John and I are still trying for a baby, it's hardly likely I would be 'playing around' with another man, is it?"

"What are you going to say?" David asked, "Can't you at least give me a clue?"

"I haven't worked it out properly yet, but I thought, If I had gone for another test, and got the result in a text, confirming I was unable to ever have a child, It would explain why I was so upset. If I spin it out a bit, without going too much over the top, I will probably have Janet crying. I don't expect you to understand, but it is a big blow to any woman, being told you cannot have children. I am over it now, but no one at work knows anything about it. I can't see any clinic sending that kind of message as a text, but if they did it would have definitely caused any woman to flip out. It will leak out, something like that is bound to, and, there you are, the reason I was hysterical this morning. You, being seen with your arms around me, if that got out, obviously you were a concerned boss, trying to comfort me. I know it's all very involved, but I really can't see us getting away with this unless our story is bullet proof. If, when I come in, in front of Janet I also give you my new mobile number. I will say I have changed my phone because after that text I couldn't bear to look at the other phone, ever again, it will all add to the picture I am painting."

Just then the food arrived, and once again Sarah was astounded by the presentation. As soon as she started to eat, she knew David had not exaggerated. Everything was cooked to perfection, the meat, it was a lamb shank, fell off the bone as her knife touched it. The sauce it had been cooked in was so good Sarah could have transferred it to a glass and drunk it as wine.

As they ate, David was thinking about the story Sarah was concocting. "I can't see any clinic sending such sensitive results in a text," he said. "Other than that I think it could work, but that is definitely the weak part of the story. How about keeping your real timeline, but now you have come to terms with not being able to have children, you got a text message from an expensive private clinic, one that had made promises when you had some tests done there before, then told you they couldn't help you. This morning you got a text from them, with the same promises, asking you to come back and keep trying. Wouldn't that have a similar effect? The less you have to bend the truth, the less chance of making mistakes."

Sarah thought about it and replied, "It could do, especially if I made out that this clinic had promised they could do something, took all of our money and then did the 'sorry we can't help' bit, when the money ran out. If they then tried to get us to pay out for more tests, thinking maybe we might have saved up some more, using the same set of promises as before. That would certainly explain me being so upset." Yes. That would be better, I will work on it tomorrow, before I come in."

"It might also be nice if you dropped in to see James too, just to say thank you," said David, "I left a message with Christine, to tell him I had taken you home and I was back and ten minutes later he phoned me, to see how you were. If she loves a juicy bit of gossip, like you said she does, it's likely, if you drop something within her hearing, she will pick up on your story and start it running around the grape vine for you. Anyway, that's for tomorrow, what do you think of the food?" The look on her face told David all he needed to know, "Not too bad for my local 'greasy spoon' is it?" He said with a big smile on his face.

Jennifer was passing as he said it, "I will tell Graham you referred to his cooking as 'a greasy spoon'," she said smiling. "You know that is going to cost you as a minimum, a double brandy to placate him." She looked at Sarah, "Graham is my chef and he gets very touchy if he thinks he is not being appreciated. He chased one person who made jokes about his cooking out of the car park with his meat cleaver. He wouldn't have really chopped him up though, it might have spoiled the edge on the cleaver, and he is very particular about his knives." She leaned close and 'stage whispered', "A nice guy though, hung like a horse if you are interested."

Sarah, taken by surprise, almost choked on a piece of potato, as Jennifer calmly walked away, saying "I would take something for that cough, if I were you."

David was grinning all over his face, as Sarah drank half a glass of water to clear her throat. "I am sorry; I should have checked Jennifer was out of earshot before I said that. She doesn't have a 10% service charge, but not many of us get out of here without leaving a tip. The bill just went up by the price of a double brandy, on top of my usual tip. Mind you, she is fair about it. Graham can take it as a double brandy, a single and the difference in cash, or all of the 'till price' of a double brandy in cash. It's his choice. I don't get that choice. The drink will be added to the bill whether I like it or not. Among the regulars, that's anyone who has been here more than twice, the rule is that you don't make jokes about Graham's cooking. Anyway, what do you think of the food? It's ok she is across the other side, you can say what you like."

Sarah was laughing too, "What can I say? I have never tasted lamb like that. Does this Graham give lessons? He could make a fortune if he ran a cookery school. Maybe if I offer to wash up I could pick up some hints. I never got to look at the prices, but I bet they are a bit steep."

"Not the cheapest in the area, I admit. A bit more than a 'Big Mac and Fries', but not the most expensive either. Jennifer says she likes people to come back and they won't come back if they feel they have been overcharged. Would you like a dessert, or another drink?"

"No thank you," she said, "Anything else would spoil the memory of what I have just eaten. I will go to the 'ladies' though, and then I think we should make a move. It's almost 9:15 and I don't want to be late." She grinned at him, "I don't want John to be worried about me, seeing as how he knows I am out with this predatory man who has designs on my virtue."

While David sorted out the check, Sarah took her jacket and went to the toilets. She took off her blouse and her bra, and then she put her blouse back on, but didn't tuck it into her skirt like it was before. She put on her jacket and carefully folding her bra she slipped it into her bag. Fastening her jacket, she returned to the table, where David was ready to go. At the door Jennifer was there to say goodnight, and she winked at Sarah. "That's the idea, but when you do up the blouse again, remember, just a couple of buttons in the wrong buttonholes. If your panties are poking out of the clasp of your bag, it adds to the excitement for him too."

Sarah leaned close and did her own 'stage whisper', "Let you in on a secret, I'm not wearing any." Jennifer did a double take. "And thanks for the tip about Graham, it's worth knowing about, that." She burst out laughing at the look on Jennifer's face. "Hmmm! Take something for that cough indeed ...! Jennifer, it has really been a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for a lovely evening, I can't remember when I have enjoyed myself so much."